When Samsung first debuted the Galaxy S III, one of the unique software features it announced would be coming to the phone was its Smart Stay power management. The idea is that the phone’s camera keeps an eye on you while you’re using the handset, and keeps the display illuminated until it detects you’ve looked away and turned your focus elsewhere. Our tests with the feature revealed that, while it largely worked as intended, a couple issues prevented Smart Stay from being as cool and useful as Samsung might have been envisioning. If you’re not ready to pick up a GS3 yourself, but have been curious to check out a system like Smart Stay, you may be in luck, as we just caught wind of an open beta currently underway to bring the same sort of functionality to other Androids with front-facing cameras.

The project is currently underway over on the XDA-Developers forums, where the dev is trying to get owners of lots of different Android models to help test the app out – right now, Galaxy Nexus users are especially in demand.

If you’re interested in participating, the beta’s free to download, and users who submit feedback on the beta will be able to get a discount on the pro version of the finished app when it’s eventually released.